A WOMAN who was found at Blackburn Railway Station had to wait more than 15 hours for a mental health bed.

A British Transport Police spokesman tweeted officers had found the woman at the station on Thursday evening and took her to a place of safety.

However a follow up tweet said the woman was still waiting to get a bed.

The spokesman said: "British Transport Police officers are still with this patient in A&E as there are no mental health beds available in Lancashire."

Russ McLean, chairman of the Pennine Lancashire Patient Voices Group, said he had recently met with the trust to discuss making sure there was enough room for all patients.

He said: "If someone had a physical health problem then we wouldn't be putting up with this, so why should we put up with it because its a mental health problem?

"This sort of waiting time is unacceptable.

"Mental health patients are treated like second class citizens.

"The time also meant the police officers were not able to carry out their duty which was wasting valuable resources.

"I met with the trust last Thursday to tell them how unhappy I was with the situation.

"They have assured me in October this will be different.

"There are plans in place to make sure this does not happen."

A Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: "We cannot comment on individual cases, however we can confirm that mental health act law gives the police the power to keep people in a place of safety (136 suite) for up to 24 hours.

"During which time assessment can take place and if necessary the right type of bed for the patient’s needs can be identified.

“We are experiencing a period of higher demand for beds but we are able to continue maintaining bed availability and also have a range of enhanced community services that are in place to support people in crisis.”